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Over the past few days we have spent a lot of time visiting programs dedicated to the advancement of the Ethiopian community in Israeli society, funded in part by UJA Federation of Greater Toronto. As with any immigrant community, the integration process is not an easy one. The radical culture shock of coming from rural Africa to modern western society is not easily absorbed, especially by the older generation. A natural split often occurs where the young generation, who is more integrated into the local culture becomes estranged from their parents and their heritage. This estrangement from their parents often leaves the immigrant children without role models. They feel segregated from the native Israelis and alienated from their parents. With nowhere else to turn these children often end up involved in drugs, alcohol, and anything else they may pick up from hanging out on the street. This picture represents the side of immigration that we are most often exposed to, especially in the philanthropic community where the focus is  commonly to help the weakest elements of society.

Yesterday, in between visiting centres for Ethiopian youth at risk, we were privileged to see a glimpse of the brighter side of Ethiopian integration. Abaye Zorde is one of the youngest elected municipal representatives in all of Israel, and the only Ethiopian on the city council of Rehovot. Having worked his way up through the municipal ranks, Abaye has put himself into a position where he has the capacity to help his native community, and he has taken full advantage of that opportunity.

But the programming and advocacy Abaye has initiated for the Ethiopian community is only his second most important role in the city. More importantly, Abaye gives Ethiopian youth confidence. By achieving what he has, Abaye shows Ethiopian kids that there are other opportunities for them beyond life on the street. One of the co-ordinators of an Ethiopian youth centre told us that when she asked the young girls what they wanted to be when they grow up the most popular answer was ‘a cleaning lady’. “It’s natural” she told us “that’s what they see around them, and they don’t think of anything else. But when kids don’t dream, they can’t achieve.”. When Ethiopian youth see one of their ranks who has become a successful, contributing member of Israeli society, they too are given the opportunity to dream.

Immigration can never be made easy, and integration by nature is not seamless; but if we can change the image of immigrant populations and give the spotlight to people like Abaye perhaps the mindset of the immigrants themselves will be shifted. When immigrant populations are painted as destitute and helpless it can become a self fulfilling prophecy, but if they are shown their own potential, maybe in the near future we can be asking for their help in our own Aliya process.

This week Israel has been eventful from start to finish, and filled with interesting tours and meetings. Some highlights not related to our program include 6:00 a.m. wakeups and my subsequent burgeoning addiction to caffeine. We have seen thriving young communities and mission-driven organizations from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, from Ben Shemen to Acco. We have also seen first-hand the challenges that Ethiopian immigrants to Israel face, as well as gaining valuable insights into their culture and way of life. Some of our day trips this week included the Ethiopian communities in Bat Yam and Kiryat Moshe. Some of the particular issues that new immigrants face are low socioeconomic standing, large generational gap, and the cultural shock of being uprooted from one land and attempting to continue life in another. Ethiopian communities that are models of success tend to pride themselves on their unique heritage and customs, while making extensive efforts to become participants in Israeli life. Our visits took us to community centres, schools, ulpanim, offices, and basketball courts. The fact that so many people, with the support of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, are dedicating their lives to improving the living conditions and future prospects for these communities is very inspirational.

Another equally important visit, and definitely an extremely emotional one, was to the NATAL trauma center in Tel Aviv. This organization, which employs both volunteers and professional staff, plays a key role in Israel. It is dedicated to counseling and assisting Israelis of all types who are affected by trauma. This can include soldiers, those who have lost family members to war or terror, victims of terror (such as residents of Sderot or the north), and family members of those severely affected by traumatizing experience. NATAL’s headquarters hosts volunteers (who run the help-phone line), mental health professionals, and stress-relief and educational activities, as well as a whole multitude of other things. What we learned there is that many, many Israelis are affected by trauma and its symptoms, for a wide variety of reasons. Many of them do not get the help they require, but NATAL is trying to help. They send out mobile teams to help people in places like Sderot, which need them badly. NATAL also made it clear that, while they have been able to accomplish a lot, there is a whole lot more they could do with increased awareness of their services. That’s why I’d advise anyone to take a look at their website (or borrow the video on the mobile team in Sderot that they gave me). They also made it abundantly clear that they’d be happy to speak to anyone interested in what they do, or to send a speaker for any kind of function. The bottom line is, they’re providing an essential (although often overlooked) service to many of the people in Israel who are adversely affected by terrorism, war, and even domestic issues. An organization like this certainly deserves our attention and praise – not to mention our help.

The achievements of those living in the Negev, Israel’s largely vacant southern desert region, are very impressive. These people are successfully pursuing the early Zionist aspiration of making the desert bloom. On the drive north from Eilat, we passed through awe-inspiring mountains near the Egyptian border, stretches of desert that seemingly extended to eternity, and pristine valleys and craters, all on our twisty, winding highway.

We spent a day in Yerucham, which is located between Mitzpeh Ramon and Dimona. We saw how an immigrant encampment that sprung up in the 1950’s turned into the thriving and vibrant town that exists today. We were privileged to meet many of the personalities responsible for the metamorphosis of this town. In addition to meeting community leaders, visionaries and scholars, we were introduced to Midreshet Bamidbar. Bamidbar presents a unique approach to bridging the gaps between Israelis, similar to the approach behind the Elul beit midreshot discussed earlier. Bamidbar uses Jewish resources, including biblical texts, commentaries and philosophers, to bring together Jews from all different places on the religious, ideological, and socioeconomic spectrum. As well, they emphasize and develop Jewish culture in the town, often using multiculturalism or pluralism within Judaism as a forum. They also utilize the town’s own distinctive resource to teach lessons and augment experiences – that being the desert, which you can see if you look, not very far, in any particular direction. We also enjoyed a great barbeque and nighttime desert scorpion viewing.

On Thursday and Friday we visited the city of Sderot, located barely a kilometer away from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Before Thursday I had always thought of Sderot as a beleaguered city constantly under siege, a dark, gloomy and cheerless place where the determined residents grimly soldiered on, trying to survive daily barrages of Kassam rockets. This picture could not be further from the truth – except for the part about the Kassams, and about the residents being extremely determined and resilient. Sderot is a beautiful and lively city, and does not seem like the kind of place that is constantly seen on the news as the site of daily terrorist attacks. That is, until you look around and see the rocket shelters on every corner. Or the Kassam-proofed roofs on public buildings. Or the windowless schools, built with safety in mind. Not to mention the chunks taken out of streets, playgrounds or walls. Sderot is a normal place filled with normal people living normal lives in their pretty red and white brick houses. However, normality and routine abruptly end with the arrival of rockets launched from Gaza.

Sderot deserves more than the fortified roofs and Kassam shelters. From my conversations with Sderot residents, it is clear that they don’t want to be viewed with sympathetic eyes. What they want is for people to pressure the Israeli government into finally taking decisive action to protect them for good. Of course, they also want people to be aware of their situation. As well, international lobbying to convince the government of Egypt to stop allowing the smuggling of weapons into Gaza is on the priority list. There you have it – that’s what Sderot wants, coming straight from the mouths of its own citizens. Luckily, Toronto is a community that has had tremendous impact upon awareness and action regarding Sderot. Hopefully our efforts in the future can help instill tranquility and security in the place that needs it the most.